Snowfall
by Six-Sided-Dice
Summary: When something goes horribly wrong on a routine mission on a snowy planet, Padawan Tyro must step up as Commander to lead a dangerous search and rescue mission with untold consequences. A Pre-Order 66 story, set in the final year of the Clone Wars. A mix of the style and themes found in Jedi Apprentice, Republic Commando, and the Clone Wars series. Ch 8 - Lost
1. First Snow

**First Snow**

The gunship doors protested opening vehemently, creaking and cracking against the ice caked along the outside. Finally two clone troopers and a Jedi Master managed to pry them open, spilling the platoon out into the frigid wind. Reflexively, Gavyn pulled his hood tighter around his face, squinting against the flurry to see gunships spread across the mountain pass.

The GAR only needed to set up a small base in a tactical location on the ground. Most of the battle was taking place in space, but there was a Separatist cruiser that went down on the planet that intelligence suggested had access to military codes. The landing party was here to clean out any remaining droids and extract the codes. Some of the troops had already set up shelter inside a larger ship, with scattered low-temperature supply tents.

Although the pass was peppered with gunships, there were very few troops running around taking care of errands. There were a few moving supplies into a tent, and another few battening down a tarp to cover one of the gunships. Even with the snow equipment supplied to them, temperatures were dangerously low - even in the middle of the day like this. At night it was worse, between the thin atmosphere and the cloudless sky, exposure would certainly kill anyone before morning.

Gavyn ushered Tyro towards the shelter built next to the parked ship, slowly gathering drifts of snow across the hull. The transition to the freezing cold air under the oversized tent from the dangerously cold air outside was refreshing. Gavyn loosened his hood again, but hesitated to pull it back quite yet. Most of the clones seemed to be congregated here, and the space was downright packed compared to the eerie lifelessness outside. It was enough of a crowd to pack down the snow on the ground into icy slush, but apparently not enough to warm the place up a bit.

_This is warmed up a bit._ Gavyn reminded himself.

As uncomfortable as it was, however, Gavyn would have welcomed a more permanent location. He and Tyro had hardly made it back to the Guardian from their trip to Hapes, before being reassigned to supervise the operation on the surface. Gavyn was skeptical that Tyro picked up much in the way of survival skills, and hoped that the operation just went smoothly. Out here their worst enemy would likely simply be the elements.

Gavyn stepped close to Tyro, speaking privately. "How are you doing?" The cold never seemed to bother Gavyn as much as it did other folks.

Tyro's eyes flicked to Gavyn, then quickly back to the ground. They hadn't talked much at all in the past few days, and after Hapes there wasn't much he felt he could say. Instead, he shrugged, kicking at the snow, tracing lines in it with his boot. He had never seen snow before. Not in real life anyway. It was cold, colder than all the holovids made it look, freezing actually, obviously, but that wasn't enough to bother him. He was more interested in how the stuff stuck together and the now sizable pile of it he had made with his feet. He stared at it, a slight smile forming. It took every last second of training he had ever been given to not stoop down it pick it up.

Suddenly remembering himself and how he was expected to be proficient and professional about this war thing, Tyro dropped the smile and quickly reported. "I read the mission briefing and relevant documents and researched all associated subjects and files. Additionally I've compiled a folder of any scripts and subroutines we might need and stored them locally as well as in a secure holonet location."

Gavyn studied Tyro's face for any clue on whether or not whatever the boy had just said was a good or bad status. It had something to do with technology, Gavyn could only be certain about that. Whether it was working or not, and how Tyro was handling it was a mystery. "Uh… if you're having problems with the equipment, you should talk to Stock… or Pike." Gavyn recommended.

"There's...no problem, Master." Tyro corrected quietly, caught off guard by Gavyn's answer. Perhaps he was supposed to have done something with the equipment instead?

"It is okay, nobody knows what is going on with the gear right now." A flash-taught accent chimed in, through a helmet speaker. The clones were all wearing low-temp armor, so their usual markings to differentiate them were gone. Regardless, Gavyn could recognize the presence as Popper, one of the company's demolition specialists. "All of this low-temp stuff is borrowed, and everything else doesn't seem to be taking well to the weather." Popper was carrying two cups of caf, steaming visibly in the cold. He offered them to the two Jedi. Gavyn took his and sipped it. It didn't taste great, but the warmth made up for it.

"I take it there hasn't been too much action yet?" Gavyn mentioned. It was often the case when caf was getting passed around.

Popper's nondescript helmet shook back and forth. "Ace took a squad on a couple of speeders to scout the wreckage about an hour ago. We should get a report any minute."

Gavyn nodded, taking another sip of caf to hide his frown. Popper saved him the trouble of asking where Ace was. Part of Gavyn was hoping that he'd be able to see him when he got to the planet, but it looked like he'd have to wait a few more hours. It was the nature of their business.

Carefully Tyro took a sip of his steaming hot caf, smiling slightly as he stared back down to the pile of snow at his feet. There seemed to be nothing too important going on right now. If no one needed him for anything it wouldn't be too irresponsible. Besides, when was he going to get another chance to play with the snow? Mind already running away with multiple ideas for what he could do with the stuff he decided it best to just ask. "May I be dismissed?" The question came with a hopeful, if not excited smile.

Tyro's question took Gavyn by surprise. It struck him that he had never heard any of the clones ever ask to be dismissed. It made him feel distinctly uncomfortable, and it took him a moment to realize why. _This war was turning him into his former master._ The troops were so accustomed to cold discipline, that any displays of Gavyn's friendliness were a treat. He was forgetting that most humans needed more freedom and encouragement than the clones. No wonder Tyro didn't take well to their training expedition. Gavyn deeply respected the Jedi Master who trained him, but he had never wanted to be her. She was cold and harsh much of the time, and it left little room for joy in Gavyn's young life. He didn't want that same experience for Tyro.

Regardless, Gavyn was certainly not comfortable letting Tyro simply wander around the base. He trusted the boy, he just didn't trust Tyro's skills or experience enough to know that he wouldn't get in the way or cause an accident.

"We can head outside if you want." Gavyn suggested, trying to be obliging. "I can show you how to channel the Force to resist the cold."

"Really? Wicked!" Tyro grinned, quickly downing the rest of his drink. Outside meant more snow. And a new use of the force. "Can we go now?"

"Sure." Gavyn replied cheerfully, as he tightened his hood against his face again. At least this seemed like something Tyro was excited about, not just another dull training drill.

Popper simply shook his head. "You Jedi are crazy." He muttered as he turned around. It was pretty true, without the Force to protect them in the cold, they would only last a couple of minutes without getting frostbite. The clones had their thick armor, but Jedi did not fare so well canned up. They had extra layers and snow gear, to help fend off some of the nasty weather at least.

Tyro dashed outside as soon as Gavyn started to move. It was well below freezing but between his excitement and the thick snow clothes Gavyn had found him he felt perfectly warm. The wind had lightened up a bit but it was still snowing. Perfect. Normally nature wasn't his thing, anything outside the city and without a computer was boring. But this? This was cool.

He made it no more than seven steps, the fresh powder sinking beneath him, halfway up his shins, before he decided to sit down, sliding knees first into the snow, hearing it crunch slightly under him. Experimentally he placed his gloved hand down into the stuff in front of him, watching how the powder fell away and blew from around it before scooping it up. He tried to compact it into a ball, but it fell away in small clumps. Must be too cold to stick together, Tyro reasoned. He cupped his hands and exhaled into them before trying again.

This time it worked. Tyro packed the snow into a fair sized ball, smoothing it out in his his hands, studying how perfectly round he could make it. You could totally build stuff with snow then. Or...Tyro looked up with a grin, seeing a smiling Gavyn in front of him. Laughing he lugged the snowball at him...You could throw it.

By the time Gavyn ducked out from under the tent flap, Tyro was already sitting in the snow. He looked small, against the tall, black walls of mountainside, and the deep drifts of snow. Gavyn's thick hood hid the smile across his face. Tyro was still a boy, finding joy in the midst of war. He wondered if snow was novel to him. After all, the he had grown up on Coruscant, and his former master was not known for venturing into dangerous climates.

Finding himself simply standing and looking at his apprentice, Gavyn started to glance around the sky and tent absently, as though he wasn't only there to babysit. That was when something hit him in the shoulder. Gavyn didn't flinch, the snowball breaking against him harmlessly. Curiously, he looked behind him to see Tyro still sitting in the snow.

Gavyn's smile turned into a grin. "You rat!" He teased. The Jedi started towards Tyro, slowing only to scoop up an armful - a large armful - of snow. When he got close enough, Gavyn tossed the snow in Tyro's direction, but the fine powder simply showered the young padawan.

Tyro laughed, filled with pure joy as he ducked, feeling the snow fall over him. Shaking off the powder like a dog, he tried to get as much of it on Gavyn as possible. So that was how it was going to be.

Grinning deviously Tyro stretched out over the snow to his side, wrapping his arms into it and pulling up a large pile towards him. Keeping an eye on Gavyn to see if he could finish his snowball before his Master could pull anything else, Tyro quickly tried to press it into something he could pick up, this time paying no mind to artistry.

Unfortunately, it was too much powder to try his trick with from earlier, and it only exploded in a puff when he tried to grab it. Deciding he didn't have enough time to make another one, Tyro quickly pressed the pile forward into a short wall, digging himself into a trench behind it.

Gavyn crouched down, keeping one eye trained on Tyro. Gavyn packed up the powdery snow the best he could. It took some strength to keep it from falling apart. He looked up to see Tyro's snowball crumble apart in midair, and Gavyn waved the blowing powder out of his face. "That's a dud!"

Just as he was packing in the last of his, Tyro took cover… well, maybe the boy had learned something from all that training on Hapes. Gavyn hurled the snowball he crafted towards Tyro. The snowball impacted against Tyro's short fort, spraying powder snow into the air.

Tyro ducked behind his wall just in time to avoid eating a facefull of snowball. Feeling the powder spray across his back as the top of the wall blew onto him he suddenly had an idea.

He peeked over the wall quickly to get a visual on Gavyn before ducking down again. Tyro reached out with the force, setting it like fingers under the piles of snow around him. It was a lot of snow, but the stuff seemed pretty light, he could take this much. Looking up again, this time with a huge grin, he lifted the snow around him, holding the large drifts in the air with the force.

He managed to raise it a few feet into the air before he felt his hold start to slip. It wasn't the weight that was the problem he realized as he lost control of it, it was how many pieces the snow was made of.

The pile came down on top of Tyro with a whump! and he felt half a moment of unease when he realized he had completely buried himself, but light, tinted a soft blue, streamed through the snow all around him and Tyro quickly dug at it, bursting out of the pile with a laugh.

Gavyn couldn't help but laugh at Tyro's backfired attempt to use the force to throw a snowball. Tyro's enthusiasm was contagious. Gavyn didn't know how long they could stay out here- at least without actually practicing meditation to stave off the cold through the Force- but he was going to enjoy these moments while they happened. Gavyn was glad that dragging Tyro from Agricorps wasn't just trucking him off to war, but that now he also had the opportunity to explore more of the galaxy, and enjoy what it had to offer as well.

Momentarily forgetting about whatever Gavyn was plotting he grabbed a handful of snow to get a better look at just what exactly it was. Well, aside from frozen water, he knew that obviously. The stuff in his hand was for the most part, little balls of ice, which he had figured, but some of it, and what continued to fall from the sky could only be described as absolutely amazing. Perfectly symmetrical crystals of ice, as detailed, perhaps more so, than circuitry. "Master! You've gotta check this out!" And here he had been thinking nature was boring.

Gavyn shuffled through the deep snow to sit by Tyro's side. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" Gavyn smiled, as something about Tyro's excitement dawned on him. "Is this your first time in the snow?" He asked.

Tyro nodded eagerly. "I've only ever seen pictures and vids of it on the holonet before. This is way better though." The cold was starting to wrap around his fingers and legs, even through his thick clothes, but he didn't care. He stared at the crystals in his hand a bit longer then back up to Gavyn with a smile.

Gavyn chuckled. "I should think so." There was never a question that the real experience was better than a holovid to him. He could hardly pay attention to only pictures and video. Gavyn enjoyed being a part of nature, and connecting to the physical universe. It was all part of the Living Force, and the echos of holovids never came close to doing it justice.

"It is cold, though." He noted. "If you feel yourself getting chilled, you can draw on the Force for your energy. Your body will shut down your fingers and your toes first, and you get frostbite. With a little meditation, you can make sure your whole body stays warm, particularly if you find you have to expose a limb or your face for whatever reason."

As Gavyn opened himself up to the Force to demonstrate, something felt not quite right. He returned Tyro's smile with a expression of uneasiness.

Suddenly, a shockwave through the Force rattled Gavyn to his core. He was on his feet in a flash, lightsaber drawn. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, as he circled, checking in every direction for a source of danger. There were a pair of clone troopers walking back from hanging up a tarp, that were startled by the display, and they too began to look around, unsure of what the Jedi had sensed.

Quickly Tyro ducked into the snow, fumbling to find a hold on his lightsaber in these unfamiliar clothes. "Master?" He called, unsure, but the Jedi didn't seem to hear him. Whatever it was, he didn't feel it himself, but Gavyn clearly could, and the force from him radiated warning in waves.

A moment told Gavyn that whatever danger he had felt wasn't immediate, but adrenaline was coursing through his veins and showed no signs of slowing. He sheathed his lightsaber, but his body was still shaking. "Tyro." He said raggedly. "Hurry, let's go inside."

"Master what happened?" Tyro asked nervously. He jumped quickly to his feet, pressing himself close to the Jedi Master. "What's wrong?"

"I'm… I'm not sure." Gavyn stumbled out, distracted by the continuing feeling of warning. It was fainter now, as though a starship had suddenly flown by his ear and he was watching it streak off into the distance.

A disturbance like this could only be a couple of things. Something traumatic could have happened close by, such as a grave accident or calamity in the middle of the shelter base. Or something terrible could have happened to someone Gavyn was close to, which worried the Jedi even more. Staying near his Padawan, Gavyn hurried inside the tent.


	2. Bearer of Bad News

**Bearer of Bad News**

Ace woke up to the taste of blood. For a moment, the complete darkness that engulfed him disoriented his sense of which way was up, but an attempt to move quickly alerted him to the fact that he was sideways, still strapped into the seat of the speeder.

He groped along his helmet - this borrowed snow bucket was foreign to him - for a lamp. The small beam cast a bluish glow across the panels of dead controls in front of him. He unstrapped himself and stumbled into the lap of his squadmate. "Champ?" Ace asked, the memory of what had happened slowly coming back. "Are you hurt?" There was no response. Luckily, the HUD of this snow helmet wasn't too different than what he was used to. The display read out Champ's vital signs, not good, the clone was unconscious. Ace was just thankful that they were both alive. He didn't feel terribly injured, aside from the metallic taste of blood. It felt like he had a few rounds in a ring, which considering he was just in a speeder crash, was not too bad.

The cruiser had been hit bad, however. Ace remembered peice by peice. They were shot down by probe droids, en route to the… wreckage. The cruiser wreckage. He checked his HUD display for the time. It wasn't nightfall yet, but it was pitch black. The speeder must have been covered by snow. Ace flipped a switch to send a message back to base, but no light showed on the dashboard.

"Hurray." Ace muttered. He picked up the comlink anyway. "Shelter Base, this is Commander Ace in the blind. If you are receiving, we have been shot down near the cruiser site, Officer Champ is unconscious. I seem to have sustained minor injuries.. Be warned, there are probe droids on patrol. Also, if you could send someone to dig us out of this junk heap, it would really make my day. Ace out." He hung the comlink back on the dashboard, feeling like a fool for talking to himself. He had the strangest feeling he was being watched, which only made him embarrassed all the more.

Taking a deep breath, Ace surveyed his options. He hit the manual disengagement for the roof hatches. It didn't budge. He tried throwing his weight against it, to no avail. A mechanical problem, or piles of snow, the doors were not going to move. Ace glanced at the windshields, and considered breaking them open for a moment. Between his unconscious comrade, the freezing weather, and the possibility of more probe droids, breaking apart their only shelter would probably spell certain death. The speeder wreck was claustrophobic, but it was at least warm… for now.

Ace shifted himself and Champ into upright, sitting positions against the side of the speeder. "Might as well get comfortable, eh?" He suggested to Champ's limp suit. "We're going to be here for a while."

* * *

><p>"Nothing sir. We've lost all communication with the squad." Twist said regretfully, checking his holonet readout one more time.<p>

Gavyn paced behind the communication officer's chair, pulling at his beard anxiously. Ace's speeder had gone down. It explained the dramatic disturbance in the force, but Gavyn was still unsure whether or not he was still alive. He had tried reaching out to him through the Force, but he didn't sense any response. A sour, cynical voice told him that Ace was dead. It was only a matter of time before the war caught up to one of them, but Gavyn could not believe that day had come finally. He dared not believe. "There must be some data we can get. Last position or something?" Gavyn urged.

Tyro kept close to Gavyn, not that it seemed like the Jedi Master would let him out of his sight if he tried, but from how tense Gavyn was, something was definitely horribly wrong. The force continued to roll off him in sickly waves and Tyro found himself mirroring Gavyn's sharp tense movements without thinking.

Feeling nauseated, Tyro finally took a seat behind the pacing Jedi. He watched the man pace back and forth, his eyes silently following the steady, pendulum-like movement. Drawing his legs up to his stomach, some part of him reminded him that he was probably supposed to be the strong, unfeeling one in this case, but he just wasn't used to this force bond thing. Clearly another reason why his former master-he stopped himself there.

What Ace had to do with it, or why that would upset Gavyn so much was another mystery. Perhaps he was on important mission than Tyro knew about. Or perhaps it was simply that he was the commander Gavyn had worked with for the past...some amount of years. All that seemed more than fair and substantially upsetting, but this still seemed like a lot coming from the usually composed Jedi Master. Regardless, whatever Gavyn was feeling was horrifyingly real. Tyro knew it all too well.

On edge, Tyro chimed in the instant Gavyn spoke, eager to do anything that might put the man at ease. "When did you lose contact?" Tyro asked, quickly getting to his feet, striding forward to the communications screen.

"Over an hour ago," Twist repeated again. "At 14:34:18"

Tyro thought on that figure for a moment. Gavyn had rushed them inside a few minutes after that, he had vaguely looked up at the chrono upon re-entering the tent. While not hard data the force was a reliable source.

"And you've verified no communication. It's not just some fluke of the storm?"

Twist nodded tiredly, it was the question Gavyn had been asking for the last ten minutes, but Tyro needed to think it out loud, just to be sure, before he gave Gavyn the news.

"Then there is no way to know without finding the ship itself, it will have stored the rest of the data in its internal systems," Tyro started, trying to explain things simply for Gavyn. The Jedi seemed too frazzled to understand much else. "But judging by the coordinates and angular velocity at the last reading we had, multiplied by the time difference we noted of approximately three of four minutes, that gives us a potential radius of-"

Twist had already pulled up the map to the large screen, entering data quickly as Tyro talked. "Eighteen kilometers," the two finished together, the map highlighting a large circular area in flashing red.

"How long would that take a team to search?" Tyro asked tentatively, unsure of what exactly it took them and how their equipment was for the snow.

"At least ninety standard hours," came Twist's prompt reply. Tyro tensed, bracing himself for Gavyn's reaction.

It took a long time for Gavyn to process the information Twist gave him. Ninety hours. Twenty-four hours in a day. That was nearly four days! That couldn't possibly be right. He did the math over and over in his head, hoping desperately that he was missing something. If Ace was still alive, four days in the snow would kill him for sure. The image of Ace frozen to his crashed speeder seat floated through Gavyn's mind, and he struggled to push it from his thoughts. It was fear like that which made attachment forbidden to Jedi in the first place. If he was afraid of losing Ace, he would meet opposition with anger instead of wisdom. All of these Jedi lessons seemed so much easier before he found someone to pour his vulnerabilities and desires into.

"But we could find them faster, right?" Gavyn asked. "I mean, that is how long it would take to go over the entire area, not until we find them." He offered. Gavyn deeply appreciated Tyro's clarity of mind, and his ability to analyze and understand technology at that moment. The Jedi Master wasn't sure what Twist or Tyro were discussing, which only served to make him more nervous. He wished he knew exactly why they couldn't simply drive a speeder out and pick up Ace, but he had to trust their calculations.

Regardless, it didn't matter if it would take four hours or four days. Gavyn had to try. He motioned the two clones observing from the back of the room. "Go prep another speeder." Gavyn ordered. For a brief moment, they glanced at each other hesitantly, before nodding a "Yessir" in unison.

"Master," Tyro started hesitantly. Gavyn was making him nervous and he knew that was something a Jedi should not be. "What's going on?"

Gavyn should have known that he couldn't keep the same kind of privacy with Tyro as the clones. They were tuned into each other, and he could sense that his agitation was upsetting his Padawan. Gavyn felt terrible about not considering how his presentation was affecting him. Gavyn gave Tyro a pained expression, wanting to reassure him but terrified as well that Tyro would point out what Gavyn already knew. Everything was not okay.

Most of the unit seemed aware that Ace and Gavyn were more than just colleagues. More than friends even. But it was never spoken of out loud. The clones knew it would be bad news for the both of them if the Council or the GAR found out, and so they kept their gossip among themselves. Gavyn wasn't sure yet how Tyro would take the news, after all he had turned in his former Master for crossing the Jedi code. Gavyn didn't feel like he was doing anything wrong, he was trying to bring just a glimmer of light into this war, not cast darkness, but the Council would not see his relationship in the same way.

He had to prove to Tyro that he could keep his emotions under control, that he and Ace were a stronger team together, and they would not forsake their duties for their attachment. If I haven't already blown my chance, Gavyn worried.

"I'm sorry, Tyro." Gavyn apologized, forcing himself to look into his apprentice's eyes. He moved for the door, pausing to put a hand on Tyro's shoulder and continue quietly. "I will explain myself, I promise. For now, we must focus our efforts on this rescue operation."_Or recovery operation. Who knows if he is still alive._

Tyro frowned. There it was again, Gavyn pushing what he said to the side. He had no doubt that yes, rescuing Ace and Champ was more important right now than them discussing this, but he wasn't sure why Gavyn couldn't just take a moment to talk to him. About anything. They hadn't talked about anything since Coruscant, and even then they had been interrupted. Gavyn couldn't even take the time to show him how to do anything with the force aside from when he had fallen out of that tree and even then it had only been out of necessity. "Of course you will." Tyro responded blankly.

Gavyn frowned, he didn't have time to have that conversation with Tyro right now. He didn't want to just drop information like that without a chance to explain himself, and how he was coping with it. And who knew what had happened to Ace. By now he could be dead, and any relationship he and Gavyn had would be an exclusively past-tense situation.

"Come on. Let's get to that speeder." He redirected.

They crossed through the landed ship, serving as their most permanent structure. When he arrived to the hangar bay, the speeder hood was thrown open and there were a handful of clones, running about busily. It wasn't ready to go, that was for sure. "What is going on?" He asked the nearest mechanic.

"Converting it for use in the cold, sir. We're almost finished, but it has a lot of automation that is configured for less aggressive climates." He offered to Gavyn's confused expression.

"We don't need any weapons on it!" Gavyn answered, clearly misunderstanding what kind of upgrades the clones were making. "Well, let me know when it is prepped." He said, taking a deep breath, and stepping back to the edge of the small hangar.

"Master, chill out. Nobody said anything about weapons." Tyro barely bit back the exasperation in his tone. For a man who worked with military stuff all the time he was clearly not listening or something. "They probably need to make sure the engine and fluids aren't going to freeze or something. Insulate it better, to keep the heat in. That kind of stuff."

Tyro looked up at his Master again, watching his distant look. "They're going as fast as they can, we're all worried about Champ and Ace."

Unsure if that would have the desired effect he tried again. Seeing Gavyn like this unsettled him. Tyro reached out, wrapping his gloved hands around Gavyn's, hoping that would get his attention. "And it might not be ninety hours, that's just an average. Numbers like that are good for administrative purposes and stuff, but they aren't fate. It's kinda like a force vision, you know?"

If the mechanic didn't say anything about weapons, Gavyn had no idea what he did mean. Tyro made some good points, however. He didn't want to find Ace only to have the speeder stall, and everyone freeze to death anyway. He nodded, pacified by the explanation.

Gavyn was thankful that Tyro was with him, even if he wished the boy didn't have to see him this way. He smiled warmly at his Padawan. He knew what Tyro said was true, and it broke his heart to hear the boy explain it. He shouldn't have to do that. It was Gavyn's responsibility to keep his emotions in check. To be the strong one. Tyro would never agree, but it was the truth. Gavyn's job was to be a pillar, both as a General and as a Jedi Master.

He put his arm around Tyro's shoulders. If there was nothing Gavyn could do to hurry up the rescue effort, the least he could do was stay out of their way, and make sure he didn't fall apart - for Tyro's sake.


	3. Priorities

**Priorities**

Ace only knew how long it had been by the excruciating flipping of digital numbers in the corner of his HUD. It had been hours already, and he had hardly moved a muscle. He could feel himself losing circulation in his feet, but there was no room to stand up. He tried to shift into a squat, the movement shooting pins up his leg. He tried to shake out his leg but the effort made him bang his helmet against the top of the upturned speeder.

"Fierfek!" He cursed as he stumbled, half-hunched over. Every muscle in his body was screaming, tense to the point of needing to burst. Ace punched the metallic wall, sending a shock up his arm. He punched it again and and again, cursing, and kicking. He attacked the side of the speeder like his life depended on it, until the confined movement tripped him over, and he fell back into Champ's lap. The speeder left no indication of his efforts, save for a few streaks.

It seemed to be enough for now, however. Ace stretched as much as he could and lay back down. "You're lucky you're unconscious for all this waiting, Champ." Ace told the lolling head of his comrade.

Ace could feel a tear itching down the side of his face. He wished he could wipe it away, but he didn't dare remove the snow helmet. His HUD told him that the temperature was dropping, but the climate control in his armor would keep him warm. If Gavyn was back, Ace knew he would be looking for their wreck, but he hadn't been seen in over a week. He was off training his apprentice, on some untouched wilderness planet. Ace trusted Gavyn to find him, Jedi were good at that and the Force would help him search. Without a Jedi, Ace wasn't sure what the odds were. Not good, for a small speeder, under a drift of snow, that was for certain.

* * *

><p>It took two hours for the clones to finish changing over the speeder to be equipped for extremely cold weather - long enough that the sun was already touching the horizon. Gavyn bundled himself up, and stepped out of the hangar to watch the sun set.<p>

He could feel the temperature dropping already. He wondered if Ace found somewhere safe to spend the night. He wondered if he still had his suit intact, to keep the cold out. If he was alive, Gavyn hoped he could make it through the night.

"We'll go as soon as it's light." A clone's voice said from behind him, optimistically.

"I know." Gavyn answered, his thoughts still far away.

Sleep was utterly hopeless. He was in the hangar before dawn broke, and it was still far too late for his taste. Gavyn wore every piece of cold-weather clothing he could find, and had packed up the speeder with emergency equipment, a few days of food and water. Gavyn hoped that Tyro had learned something about survival, because he was going to be coming with them. They shouldn't be getting into too much trouble on a search and rescue mission. A handful of clones stood by in their low-temp gear, waiting for the signal to peel out.

"Are you ready to go, Tyro?" Gavyn asked.

Tyro nodded, still blinking back residual tiredness. Unable to sleep immediately he had turned instead towards research until fatigue at last won out. Gavyn's concern yesterday had put him on edge, but the Jedi Master had either made some sense of peace with the situation, or managed to shield him from some of what he was feeling. Whatever it was, it was enough that he could get some rest for a few good hours. "I studied the maps and terrain last night. Tried to come up with some backup solutions just in case," he reported quickly to Gavyn.

"Good work, Tyro." Gavyn smiled, through the hood pulled up to his nose. "It looks like the troops are ready as well." He looked up, and the clones nodded to him in return. Gavyn recognized them as the handful of soldiers that Tyro had taken to lately. The Jedi was glad for it, Tyro could use a couple of friends around, since he seemed to be occupied with is duties as a General most hours of the day.

The troops were climbing into the vehicle when a courier came running around the corner. He skidded to a halt on the icy hangar floor, and saluted. "General, sir. The Jedi Council requests your audience." He reported.

A lump formed in Gavyn's throat. "What do they want?" He asked carefully, keeping his tone even.

The clone looked hesitant. "I'm not sure, sir. The signal here is really bad because of the cloud cover. I recommend you take a transport up to the Guardian."

There was a long moment before Gavyn responded, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. He closed his eyes, searching for his center. Duty has to come first.

* * *

><p>"Duty has to come first." Gavyn explained, tilting his head to try and catch Ace's eyes. The clone wasn't looking at him, brows furrowed and staring at the criss-crossed landing lines under the Jedi starship.<p>

"We're soldiers. Our duty is to watch each other's backs." Ace insisted.

Gavyn placed his hand on Ace's neck, one of the few places that wasn't covered in plated armor. It got his attention, and Ace finally took a deep breath and looked up at him. "I'm also a Jedi." Gavyn reminded him.

Ace moved Gavyn's hand as he confronted him. The soldier had no interest in being consoled. "All the more reason I should go with you. You're a Jedi. You're our General. If anything happened to you, I- we can't afford the loss." Ace caught himself on his passionate language, quickly supplementing it for his chilled Kominoian training.

It was strange to Ace. It seemed inevitable that Gavyn would get wounded or killed in battle at some point. That didn't bother him. What bothered him was the idea of not being by his side when it happened. Dying alone in war felt so nihilistic, it made you question why you're fighting in the first place. The Republic certainly wouldn't be there in the end to hold your hand. The two of them didn't have much, but they had each other in all of this chaos. If they fell by each other's side, at least it would feel like this war meant something.

"I have my orders." Gavyn apologized. "Remember, I've been trained for this. My whole life I've done missions like this."

Ace writhed under the truth of it. "I know, I know." Gavyn brushed his cheek. He didn't want to leave any more than Ace wanted him to. It was the only way he could justify continuing their relationship, however. The Jedi code explicitly warned of the dangers attachment could have on a Jedi's duty. As long as his attachment didn't get in the way, Gavyn could juggle both. It would be painful. Force, it was painful. But Ace was worth it.

Gavyn touched his forehead against Ace's, before the clone melted against him, burying his face into Gavyn's neck. He didn't waste a moment before wrapping his arms around him, holding Ace close, armor plating and all. Gavyn peppered kisses on Ace's temple until he could feel him calm down.

Ace drew himself away, with a smile and a half-laugh. "You have such a way with words." Gavyn grinned, just happy to see him in better spirits. He swept in to kiss Ace full on the mouth, thankful they were in the shade of the starship in an uncrowded hangar.

"I'll be back before you know it. With whole pages of words." Gavyn flirted. A page was a lot of words for him. Ace shook his head, chuckling as he stepped back from the entrance hatch. The last thing Gavyn saw before climbing inside was Ace giving him a salute. He made a note to remember it, just in case it was the last time.

* * *

><p>"I'll go." Gavyn said simply. This was so much easier when he knew that Ace had a garrison behind his back, not dying alone in the middle of a frozen wasteland. It was never easy, though. It never would be.<p>

Tyro nodded at Gavyn's acknowledgement before heading towards the ship with the rest of the search party. Under the stark white snow suits Tyro could not see who was who but he could tell easily enough between their mannerisms and the force. He smiled, feeling at ease that he would be doing this alongside Tar, Sparks, and Tracks.

Two of the other three felt familiar but he couldn't place them. "I think we've met before, for some reason, but I'm Tyro," he offered, unsure, to the pair.

"Sergeant Major CT-6895, sir, though the General likes to call me "Stitch". The man called Splinter introduced himself in a similarly stiff fashion. Noting Tyro's blank stare Stitch continued more lightly. "Chief Medic. We met on Loronar, don't think I ever had time to introduce myself though," he offered with a smile. Tyro had the distinct feeling that was the politically correct way to tell him it was okay that he didn't remember. He also had the feeling Stitch and Splinter got that a lot.

"I'm guessing I owe you a thanks then."

Stitch chuckled. "Glad to see you up and about."

"Just don't do it again," Splinter teased.

"That's the idea," agreed Tyro.

Tyro climbed into the vehicle with everyone else, taking a seat next to Tracks. It would be interesting to see the man at work doing what he loved and did best, according to Tar and Sparks he was insanely good at...well, tracking.

"How's the cybernetic holding up in these temperatures?" Tyro asked privately, trying to treat the subject with the respect it deserved.

"Functions perfectly, sir," Tracks reported, before adding more softly, "Thanks, you three did a fine job, sir."

That was right. It had to be back to "sir" with everyone now. Tyro found it wasn't the title that was troubling, it was the responsibility that came with it. How was he supposed to lead an army at something he had never done before? For once, all his fourteen years did not seem enough. He looked over to his Master, who seemed to be just finishing up a conversation with someone. At least Gavyn would be here to help, Tyro comforted himself.

Gavyn needed to leave for the cruiser in the upper atmosphere at once, but it left him few options with what to do about Ace and Champ. He glanced across the hangar to spot Tyro climbing into the speeder. He was ready to go, and Gavyn understood that he needed to let Tyro do this. Not just in order to rescue Ace, but so he could step up and take his place as a commander in this army. A search and rescue mission was dangerous, but it wasn't a battle. Gavyn had to trust him.

Gavyn leaned across the hatch of the speeder. "Tyro, I've just been told of important business with the council. I… I won't be able to join you." He wished that he could be there when they found Ace. He would probably be cold and exhausted, and would need someone to look after him. Gavyn trusted the medics to do their job, but he hoped that someone would remember to tell Ace that everything was going to be alright.

Meeting Tyro's eyes very seriously, Gavyn continued. "I trust you to bring them back safely." The Jedi meant it. Tyro was smart, he had figured out whereabouts the speeder may have landed. He spent the time looking over the maps, like he said. And most importantly, he had the Force as his ally. It would guide him.

"Okay," Tyro blinked, staring blankly at Gavyn, not sure of how to process this. He had been around clones less than a month, and now he was supposed to lead troops...just like that? He hadn't lead anyone before, he kept to himself, did stuff on his own. He could come up with plans, strategy, but then he handed those off, he wasn't the one to carry them out.

Tyro hopped out of the vehicle to better talk to Gavyn. If he was going to do this he couldn't let anyone see his lack of resolve, or competence. "Er...I guess that means then that...I'm commanding officer, if that's what you call it, right?"

Gavyn was accustomed to his position of authority. The clones seemed to regard him with respect and obedience, no matter how much he would push to become more their equal. Before the war he was already well practiced in taking charge of situations and rallying people. It came as naturally to him as breathing. He forgot that Tyro was more of the scholarly type of Jedi.

"Yes, that makes you the highest rank on this mission." Gavyn confirmed, citing the technicality. "But that doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself." He reminded Tyro, trying to ease his apprehension. "Your squad knows their jobs well. Trust their expertise, and trust your instincts."

Gavyn put a hand on Tyro's shoulder. It was hard for him to keep asking this of his apprentice- to grow up so fast. Tyro took it in stride, but that didn't make it any less fair.

He pulled Tyro into a tearfully tight hug. "Be careful out there." The last thing Gavyn wanted was to lose his Padawan to the frozen wasteland in addition to Ace. If anything, this incident was a harsh reminder that any moment could be the last together in the midst of war. Gavyn dared not take Tyro for granted. "May the force be with you."

"Thanks Master," Tyro nodded into Gavyn's jacket. "You too."


	4. Frozen Wasteland

**Frozen Wasteland**

Tyro had long since given up staring at the blindingly white snow outside. Though the storm had somewhat eased up, snow still poured from the grey-white sky, through the grey-white mist, to land on the grey-white ground below. The only relief from the sameness was the occasional view of one of the dark rocky mountains, too sheer for the stuff to stick to, only visible when too close for comfort, and their navscreen. Tyro was thankful they didn't have to rely on a visual. Anywhere Ace and Champ had landed would be long since buried in snow.

"That's a smart program Commander," complimented Tracks as he studied the screen. Now that they had reached their approximate search area they were able to see it in action. It traced the ground they had covered so far, to ensure nothing was doubled up on needlessly, or missed. Really it was just a visual. "Not that I would entirely replace the traditional way with it, but a tool's a tool, and it's foolish to waste a resource."

"If you want I can program your route into it," Tyro suggested.

"Not a bad plan, sir. Can't see anything in this damned snow."

Tyro nodded in agreement before turning to his datapad to enter the necessary coordinates. Track's plan made a lot of sense, even if it didn't seem the most immediately thorough. They would search the areas where Ace and Champ had most likely landed first. It would mean some backtracking and re-traversal as the search area widened, but it was better to trust calculations and statistics than just luck.

"Did we ever get data on why they went down?" Tyro asked the group, thinking out loud.

"Nothing official, sir, but Ace and Champ knew what they were doing. Let's just say they sent me with the group for a reason," Tyro heard Tar growl from behind him. Tyro was grateful to have his friend there, but he hoped they would not be needing the heavy guns Tar was specifically trained to use.

"Hm," Tyro agreed thoughtfully. He stared at the navscreen a bit longer before the feeling that he should be doing something else began to bother him.

So far this wasn't too bad. Aside from agreeing with some basics on what needed to be done and how between Tracks and the medics, Tyro hadn't had to do anything too commander-ey yet. That said the rank, along with the seriousness of their mission made small talk even more awkward than it usually was.

How did Gavyn handle it? The old guy was a natural at this sort of stuff. He seemed to thrive off it. The more he thought about it though, from the short time he had known him, Tyro got the sense that Gavyn wouldn't be talking or leading right now, he was a Jedi, he would be meditating. Looking for Ace and Champ through the living force.

Tyro was nowhere near as strong with the living force as his Master, but he knew, from the way he could feel through, with, and about other beings, it was something he was naturally attuned to. He looked around, wondering if he should announce to the others what he was going to be doing...like, if they needed to know or not, or if they were used to seeing Gavyn doing it. Deciding that he would rather not start an awkward conversation or say something stupid he went ahead and closed his eyes, trying to feel if there was any life out there at all. Despite his effort, he could not see beyond the movement of the ship, the others here with him, and the never ending snow.

* * *

><p>Waking with a start, Ace checked his HUD clock. Forty minutes had passed. Ace had been slipping in and out of sleep for some time now. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was in the dark speeder wreckage. The only difference Ace noticed was that he was feeling a low growling in his stomach. It had been well over twelve hours since his last meal. If anything, Ace knew that he should eat. Running low on energy in the cold could literally drain the life from you.<p>

Ace moved stiffly to Champ. He hadn't changed since the clone had fallen asleep either. A quick scan revealed his vitals on the decline. Ace frowned. The mere fact that Champ hadn't come to yet was a bad sign. He probably had a severe brain injury. Ace put a gloved hand against Champ's helmet, tracing the mandalorian-style visor. He wished that he had Gavyn's way with healing, then he might be able to help his comrade. As it stood, Ace couldn't do a thing to care for him. They were as imprisoned in their armor against the cold as they were inside the speeder.

Clumsily searching his belt with thick gloves, Ace found his stash of dry rations. The hard, cubic meal substitutes were hardly what Ace would usually call food, but it was standard diet in the field. He fumbled with the small morsels, and dropped one on the ground. Fierfek. There was no room to waste in a survival situation like this. Ace picked it up from the ground, and with his free hand, unlatched his helmet.

The rush of air felt like a bucket of ice water thrown against his face, and and Ace gasped in surprise. He had seen the readout of outside temperature on his HUD, but it meant nothing compared to the sensation. Ace had never experienced such extreme cold.

Hastily, Ace shoved the ration into his mouth. It was frozen, and the shock of it in his mouth sent shudders across his body. Ace re-latched his helmet as fast as he could, but the damage had already been done. He was shaking uncontrollably, the ice in his mouth sucking the heat from his very bones.

Ace hated the cold. Why couldn't they have been assigned to some beautiful tropical planet, and crashed on a sunny, sandy island? He hated how the cold seeped into you, and wrenched control of your own skin away and made you shiver. He hated how it relentlessly sucked your power to fight it away. He hated how alone it made you feel.

Swallowing the last of the ration shot, a stabbing pain shot through Ace's forehead. He clenched his teeth, and the feeling passed. This ration better keep him alive for a while, if it was going to be worth it. Right now he hardly felt any less hungry, but he did feel a hell of a lot more cold.


	5. Discovery

**Discovery**

_"Fierfek!"_ The ship tilted dramatically to the side as Roller cursed loudly, narrowly avoiding a dark rocky spire that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Tyro's eyes snapped open, visually confirming what he had lost himself in while meditating, the weather was getting worse. Large gusts of wind beat against the craft, rocking it side to side. Roller was concentrating hard to fly straight, and from the readout on the navscreen was doing an astounding job. Still, he looked stressed.

Tyro, lost in the swirls of the wind and the snow had found it fascinating and dramatically beautiful, but he was beginning to see more and more how not everyone would feel that way.

"No wonder those two crashed," Tar grumbled from the back of the craft, gripping his seat so tightly Tyro wondered if it might break.

"They wouldn't have been flying this low yet. The cruiser is farther off," Roller corrected tersely, in the professional tone of an experienced pilot. "Might have been, but I doubt it. Something else got to 'em," he finished darkly.

The wind suddenly picked up, the gust so loud they could hear it over the noise of the engine. Roller quickly shut up the small talk, as he pushed the controls hard to the right, rolling the ship at an angle to the wind. Tyro let out a deep breath and his stress with it as the acceleration flung him and the rest of the crew harshly to the left.

"What the hell!" He heard Tar scream from the back over the wind and whirring engine.

Tyro looked up from the navscreen to Tracks as their course diverted wildly to the right, noting the concern ever so slightly biting at his brow and the corners of his mouth.

"Tar," Stitch started, his voice low and even, but Tyro could feel the worry in it.

"No. Don't tell me this is alright. This is not alright!" Tar shot back.

Despite it all though Tyro didn't feel too concerned. Even if he couldn't find his center enough to meditate, he could still feel the force there. It was as he had told Gavyn earlier, nothing was fated, what would happen would happen. And it was as Gavyn had told him, this squad knew what they were doing, they were all experts at their craft.

"You're right," Tyro declared evenly. Stitch looked like he was about to open his mouth again before but he, along with everyone else turned to Tyro instead. "This is scary. It's scary because you don't know. You don't know if the ship will hold in this weather or if we're going to smash into a mountain, crash and be buried in snow and freeze to death." It was morbid, but it was worth saying out loud. Everyone was thinking it. They had to acknowledge it though if they were going to recognize the true nature of it. Tar looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to yell more or agree with him. "But here is what we do know. This ship has been modified to the top quality possible given the time and supply constraints. The conditions now are different than whatever Ace and Champ ran into, the factors they met with are unknown but it is unlikely that we would they would be replicated.

"We have a top-notch pilot who has been handling this weather amazingly, sure, it feels uncomfortable and it is stressful, but Roller hasn't had a problem so far, he knows what he is doing. You've got your best tracker here, making sure we're out here for as little time as possible, and if need be he knows what it would take for us to survive outside," Tyro continued, his conviction in his own words growing.

"Sparks not only could fix any mechanical or electrical issue we encounter, but he would be able to detect a failure before it gets to that point. On the off chance we were to run into anything Tar would have that more than taken care of. If something did happen, we've got two top-notch medics. And if it all goes to hell, you've got me," Tyro finished firmly.

They all fell silent, Tar, letting out his breath in a huff leaned back, working the words over in his mind, along with everyone else.

It started to sink in form hi as well, that he had just said that. All of that. Tyro reflexively clenched his teeth, looking down quickly to hide the horror that spread over his face. That was stupid. So stupid. He was just some kid telling a bunch of professionals what they already knew.

Tyro was just about ready to bury his face in his hands to better hide it when he heard Roller speak up. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Commander. This ship ain't going anywhere I don't want it to." Tyro could hear the smile in the man's voice.

He straightened up, realizing that was probably something he should do at being addressed, beginning to realize that though the storm was still just as violently beating at the craft as ever, everyone did seem a lot calmer. Tracks regarded him with a smile and a nod. "Well spoken, Sir."

Tyro nodded back, not wanting to have to say anything else. Then suddenly, Tar looked back to the navscreen. "We've got something about three klicks out to the northwest."

Tyro leaned closer, trying to get a good look at it.

"What is it?" Sparks asked from the back.

"Something metal," Tracks growled.

"The ship?" Sparks asked excitedly.

"We're not close enough to tell yet."

The next few minutes passed slowly, despite everybody shuffling quickly about, making sure their supplies were in order, re-hashing plans, shouting over the gusts of wind to make sure everything was accounted for to safely get Ace and Champ out of whatever kind of situation they might be in. Tyro for his part tried reaching into the force again. Perhaps now they were so close he could tell if they were alive or not. He only found the same distracted meditation he had been stuck with before.

"In range now. Keep it here Roller," Tracks announced.

"We're here, so what's the plan Commander?" Stitch asked evenly. Tyro took a deep breath, trying to think and not panic. He could do this, he knew what he was doing.

"Pardon the interruption Commander, but there's something you should see," Tracks announced. With a bit of confusion Tyro looked to what Tracks was pointing at.

"Too small to be a ship," Tracks said discerningly. "No that looks like a droid or something?"

Tar pulled himself out of his seat, moving forward to get a better look. "A probe droid," he finished darkly.

"That's just kriffing great," grumbled Tracks. "So now it's seen us. Better get out of here before it tries anything else!"

"Hang on!" Sparks took a moment to confirm something on a screen he was holding before heaving a sigh of relief. "Inactive," he announced "Readout shows it's entirely inactive."

The relief of not being shot down or ratted out by a probe droid only lasted a moment though. "So then all it means is we're right back where we started then. With nothing. That's just great," Tar huffed.

"No, no it doesn't," Tyro corrected quickly. His mind already filling with ideas. "That droid was out here for a reason. I'll bet it has some sort of info on Champ and Ace's location!"

"That wouldn't be difficult to extract, Sir," agreed Sparks quickly, his voice filling with excitement.

Tracks managed a knowing half-smile. "Looks like we can ready a landing party after all."

* * *

><p>The shuttle ride to the cruisers in the upper atmosphere was a long and quiet one. Gavyn wrestled with settling his mind. What if the other Jedi Masters sensed his turmoil? Would they find out about Ace? He knew that the worry would only further upset him, and he resisted the thoughts. Gavyn had to focus on the upcoming summon. Anything that happened on the planet's surface was out of his hands now.<p>

When Gavyn stepped out of the shuttle, he was surprised to find himself in the service hangar of the Guardian. It was overcrowded with military vehicles, and Gavyn knew something was amiss. "Why are we not in the main hangar?" He asked his pilot as they walked together.

"She took some damage in the last skirmish, sir. Traffic is diverted to this hangar until we can get repairs finished."

Gavyn nodded grimly. Battles in space were rougher than on the ground, in his opinion. They left very few wounded, it was literally do or die. There was a reason Gavyn was known as a ground troop general as well. He got his hands dirty. He led from the front. He had a good sense of environments and how the living force flowed through them. Space, however, felt like drifting in the ocean, far away from anything tangible.

Even now, his padawan seemed so far away, and they were hardly out of the atmosphere. He couldn't sense Ace at all. Cautiously, he reached out with the Force, to search for him. As brilliant and as certain as a sunrise, Gavyn could feel Ace alive down on the planet below. He was cold, and alone, but Gavyn was sure he was alive, and that was enough hope to keep him satisfied for now. If he could survive overnight, he could make it through this after all.

The bridge of the Guardian was intact, despite the damage they passed en route. Gavyn wove his way through the glowing holo screens and clustered Clone navigators to the central communication table. With a tap of a button, the images of the Jedi Council members sprang from the surface.

"Glad you could join us, Master Jervada." Mace Windu noted with implied impatience, but not a note of it in his voice.

* * *

><p>Roller expertly set the craft down in a valley between two rocky peaks. It would have been an impressive landing even in good weather, but it was all the more vital now. Wind shrieked over the rock walls above, the storm blowing furiously overhead, but down in the canyon it might as well been a clear day. Standing up Tyro couldn't shake the sensation that the craft was still rocking consistently in the wind as it had been for the past many hours.<p>

The protection from the wind and snowfall did nothing against the dangerous cold however. A frigid blast of air slammed Tyro in the face as the hatch popped open, reminding him to quickly fish for his mask and goggles. It was actually colder down here than it was out in the storm.

Tyro tried to imagine what it was like for Ace and Champ in something like this. Even if they still had shelter from their craft, it would be well below freezing, and if they couldn't move to keep warm they would definitely be in trouble.

"How is that snow gear holding up in this?" Tyro asked, as he stepped down the ramp with Tracks, Sparks, and Tar. They left the rest on the ship. The medics and pilot wouldn't be needed out here, and they couldn't risk them in any way.

"Can't say I don't miss the old stuff, but as for keeping out the cold, this is definitely doing its job," reported Sparks cheerily.

Tyro nodded, finding comfort in the hope that at least Champ and Ace were similarly equipped.

Tyro stepped forward out into the snow, grinning slightly at the soft crunch of it under his boot. As awful as this weather was, this stuff was still awesome. The ground beneath his feet held for about a second, then with an impressive crunch Tyro found himself buried up to his waist in the fresh powder.

"Well, that's going to be a problem," surmised Tracks with the slightest hint of amusement in his tone, looking down at what was left above ground of the young Jedi. "Sparks, we've got some special boots for this I think, can you go grab those?"

With a "Yessir," Sparks was off.

Tracks turned back to Tyro. "Need a lift Commander?" he asked. Tyro could swear he heard a slight laugh through that electronically projected voice.

"No," grunted Tyro as he tried pulling his legs up one at a time, loosening the snow around them. "I got this." He leaned forward to brace himself against the bank of snow in front of him seeing if that would give him a better shot at getting free. It didn't. Next thing he knew his hand slipped through it and he fell face first into the snow.

"I'm fine!" Tyro yelled quickly, his voice muffled by the powder. This time Tar was definitely laughing for sure. Tyro couldn't help but grin. It was only as embarrassing as he was going to let it be, and this was pretty amusing. He pushed at the snow a bit more, but it was quickly becoming clear that while this would work...eventually...if he pressed the snow down enough, this was going to make moving around in the snow an arduous and extremely lengthy process. Perhaps whatever boots Tracks had mentioned were the solution to this, but Tyro had another idea.

He reached out to the force, lifting himself with it back onto the gangplank, hearing a mumbled "whoa" from Tar at the display, before taking another look at the snow. It wouldn't be too much effort to just hold himself up with the force…

"Okay, got 'em! I brought some snow shovels too, looks like we'll need 'em." Sparks announced. "Though I'm not really sure how these will fit you...Sir" he started, unsure, looking down at Tyro's feet. "We're kind of all fit one size here, Commander."

"No, it's okay, I think I got it." Tyro replied, regarding the wide boot attachments. Distribute the weight enough to not sink into the soft powder. Simple, yet clever. It made sense. And come to think of it that would not be too difficult to replicate with the force, and it would save more energy than his previous plan.

"Time for attempt number two then?" He asked once everyone was equipped. They all stated their agreement without the slightest question of Tyro's own abilities. He was a bit surprised at the lack of opposition, but he had just reminded them that he was a Jedi after all.

Avoiding the rather impressive chasm he had just left in the snow he stepped out a second time, this time spreading the force out with him beneath his feet. He tested it out for a few steps, stepping along the snow so lightly he hardly left a footprint. "Damn," Tar whispered, probably thinking Tyro couldn't hear. Tyro smiled, happy it was hidden by his mask. The force was so common everywhere he had been before, and while he was sure the army had seen it from Gavyn, it did feel like a compliment.

Shaking that aside, along with the fascination with the snow, he brought his mind back to the mission. "Tracks, do you want to take the lead on pinpointing this?"

"Yessir," came the succinct reply.

It was only a few meters before the Tracks looked from the small datapad in his hand to the ground. "Here, Sir."

Tyro looked down. From the surface there was nothing that differentiated this patch of snow from any other. Well, that was what the shovels were for.

"Permission to speak Commander?" Asked Tracks succinctly.

"Sure, what's up?" Tyro replied without really thinking.

"We need to be careful in or digging. While the droid itself is inactive we don't want to risk either damaging it or setting off any kind of weaponized device it may have, Sir."

"Yeah, that's a good point," he agreed. Nothing followed. Everyone stood there watching them as if waiting for some kind of command. Tyro winced. Well of course they were. "Okay guys, it's as Tracks said. We all stop digging when he gives the signal."

Tyro quickly looked over to Tracks to see if he had said the right thing, relieved to see the man nod in agreement.

Three of them set to work with tracks watching from the side on his datapad. Despite knowing the exact location of the probe droid it was a long and arduous process. It had snowed a lot since the droid had crashed here, and Tyro began to realize that this was just a small droid. Ultimately they would have to be doing this with a ship. Perhaps this droid had crashed much earlier and Champ and Ace would be easier to get to? Tyro doubted that would be the case though.

"Halt!" demanded Tracks suddenly. "Shovels up. Everyone step back. Tar, Sparks, I need you to disarm the probe droid and locate whatever you need to find."

"I can help too," offered Tyro quickly.

"Commander, with all due respect, you are this highest ranking officer here. It would be unwise to compromise you at this stage of the mission."

"I've disassembled quite a few droids and disarmed my share of bombs, I know what I am doing," Tyro replied defensively.

Tracks motioned for him to step closer, pulling him off to the side. "Commander," he spoke privately to Tyro. "Nobody questions your ability here. And while if something were to happen, Stitch would be able to lead this mission, your skills are a lot more important down the line when we need to locate Ace and Champ and get them safely out of whatever situation we find them in."

Tyro frowned. It was unfair thinking he was worth something more than Tar and Sparks and the rest of them. At the same time however, what Tracks said was logical. A risk here meant he might not be there to help out when it really did matter. This probe droid was not worth the true purpose of the mission.

"Thank you Tracks," Tyro quietly agreed. He stayed where he was, a good distance away, as Tracks nodded and stepped closer to supervise the other two.

Tyro fought to keep his mind from wandering as he watched from a distance while the three worked. Time seemed to pass so much more slowly when he wasn't involved. As the minutes ticked by he began to focus on the snow around him. It was cold, like Gavyn had been saying yesterday. Very cold. Cold enough that it was starting to seep through his thick snow clothes. When he had first stepped out of the ship in them he was so warm he hardly believed that could be possible. He looked down at the front of his jacket and pants, noting how much snow was caked onto them from when he had fallen into it earlier, and hastily started to brush it away, but the cold bit at his muscles, slowing his movements.

More time passed. His toes began to sting in his boots and he lifted himself out of the snow enough that he was hovering slightly above it. As he started to shiver he remembered what Gavyn had been about to show him yesterday, about meditating to keep himself warm. But he hadn't been able to meditate earlier, and the cold was distracting, he didn't even know where to start. He turned his attention to Sparks and Tar instead.

"We should be good!" Tar finally called out after what felt like an eternity. "Did you want to take a look at this Commander?"

"Once we extract the data we'll have more information, but from just looking at it, it appears it crashed after being blown into one of the cliff walls here," Sparks commented as Tyro approached.

"So are we good to extract the data to analyze back on the ship?" Tyro asked. "It'll save us some time and it's getting pretty cold out here."

"You'd probably be best at that Commander," admitted Sparks. "Slicing and data aren't really my things."

Tyro nodded, fishing a small drive out of his pack with clumsy gloved fingers. He held onto it tightly, hoping it could still function in this cold. A few minutes later he had what he needed. "Got it," Tyro announced, secretly glad this meant they could go back inside soon.

He handed the drive over to Sparks. "We'll just need to pull this up to analyze once we're back on the ship. Anything else?"

"No sir."

Stitch stood waiting for them, fully equipped in his snow armor, as they stepped back onto the ship, looking the group over. "You bringing on anything?" He asked the group cautiously.

"Just data, Sir," replied Sparks, holding up the drive. Stitch nodded in approval. "I want to be tracked just as much as you do."

Letting the rest of the group pass, Stitch motioned for Tyro to stop. "Commander Reval, if you'll follow me?"

"Uh...okay," Tyro replied uncertainly, following the medic to the back of the ship as the hatch closed behind them, blocking out the cold at last.

"Boots, pants, coat, gloves, mask off," Stitch commanded succinctly, removing his own helmet.

"Wait why?" Tyro protested protectively.

"The snow on them is only going to melt in here, and you're already freezing, Commander. You were out there for over half an hour. We don't know how much longer we've got ahead of us, we need to take as much care of ourselves as we can, while we still can. Wouldn't you agree Commander?"

Tyro considered protesting again, but there wasn't anything to argue. As much as he felt weak being the only one pulled aside, he wasn't going to make anything better by ignoring Stitch. Once again this was an issue of not pushing himself now so he could do so later, when it really mattered. Biting back a sigh he began to peel off his mostly frozen outer layer of clothing, dropping it unceremoniously to the floor. Suddenly the three layers of clothes he had on under that were not enough. His extra layer of insulation gone, he began to shiver violently.

"Sit." Tyro obeyed as Stitch wrapped a thick heated blanket around him. "Let me see your hands." Satisfied with whatever it was he was looking for Stitch nodded. "Take a moment to warm up, Commander, and join the rest of us up front when you're ready," Stitch offered looking him over once more. "I'll see if I can find somewhere for these to dry," he added, picking up Tyro's pile of snow clothes.

"Thanks Stitch," Tyro nodded, a bit of shiver still in his voice.

Left alone with his thoughts, Tyro felt a bit bad. This was the second time today he had been reminded that he needed to focus on the purpose of the mission. A Jedi should have been more mindful of that than anyone else, yet he had been hearing it since Loronar. That he needed to accept help, save his most valuable resources. It had just been so different with his former master. He had done almost everything by himself, and the times they did work together it had always been okay when they diverged from the plan when Tyro had a better idea or saw something else that needed to be done.

Feeling warmer Tyro finally stood up to join the others up front.

"I'm not finding anything of use here. Looks like either we are missing part of it, or it never had anything in the first place. All I can tell is that this crashed a few minutes after the approximate time we have for them going down," Sparks was saying to the rest of the group as Roller readied for takeoff.

"So basically all we got from this is we now know approximately how deeply buried in snow they are," Tar said as Tyro found his seat.

"Basically."

"So a total waste of time after all," Grumbled Tracks under his breath.

Tyro sighed, looking out the window as Roller took off, expertly weaving the ship out of the small canyon. It had been a bad call after all, though there had been no way to know that before. He sat conflicted for a moment before deciding that the risk had been worth the potential of a better pinpoint on Ace and Champ's location. He could only hope that the extra time wouldn't cost them.

As they reached the top the violent wind caught the craft again and it was back into the storm.


	6. Alone

**Alone**

It seemed to take an age before Ace finally felt warm again after eating his frozen ration. Long enough that he could already start feeling himself get hungry again. He was in no rush to take off his helmet again for a bite to eat, however.

He hoped that sleeping would help take his mind off it. With his suit temperature stabilized, he was no longer in danger of getting hypothermia while he slept. Even Champ's vitals seemed to have stabilized- albeit weakly.

As soon as Ace shut his eyes, he felt certain that Gavyn was sitting with him at that moment in the speeder. The sensation took him by surprise, and Ace quickly looked around. There was nothing, and he remembered that it was probably Gavyn reaching out through the Force. He could feel the joy bubbling inside of him. His Jedi was looking for him. He wasn't going to die trapped in this speeder after all.

Suddenly, Ace heard movement above them. That must be the rescue party! He jumped to his feet. "Hey! We're down here!" He called out. The movement grew louder, and turned to scraping as it hit the top of the speeder. Ace slapped the metal speeder back. "I thought you'd never make it!" He cried out. Gavyn was probably just on the other side of the wall. That was why it felt like he was so close.

Ace didn't hear a yell back, however. Instead, he heard a mechanical whirring. Like a charging blaster. "Gav?" He asked hesitantly. They were going to blow the wall apart. Ace dove for cover behind the passenger seat as the roof of their shelter split open in a flash of red blaster fire.

Flipping onto his back, Ace searched the smoke. He caught a glimpse of a clawed mechanical arm. Probe droid. It dipped inside the speeder, swiveling it's rounded head. Ace gritted his teeth and lunged at it. The probe droid was nearly the size of him, and he managed to grab two of the claws and swing it into the wall.

The noise caught the attention of two more, which started firing from the outside of the speeder. Ace rolled over the struggling droid, holding it between him and the roof spraying sparks and debris in all directions. He wrestled the blaster mechanism on the droid to point through the hole in the roof. Expertly, he fired the blaster and shot down each droid cleanly.

Ace smirked, even with a weapon that was fighting back, a clone was taught never to miss. As for the droid struggling on top of him, Ace ripped out the power unit, disabling the droid with a low whir.

He and Champ were both still in one piece, but their shelter was now far from it. Ace pushed the limp droid off his chest and stood up. The air was completely frigid, powdery snow already piling on the floor. He jumped up and grabbed the torn edge of the speeder wall and pulled himself up into the snow. The two droids lay nearby, still smoking. He wasn't sure if they'd help a rescue team find them, or just help more droids find them.

Figuring that the droids probably had a chance to transmit their location anyway, Ace stacked up the droids on top of one another. It was clearly not random chance, and hopefully would serve as a marker- until the snow piled up around it at least.

Dropping back down into the speeder, Ace's HUD read no difference in temperature. There was already almost ankle-deep snow that had fallen in from the gaping hole in the roof. Their shelter was compromised beyond repair. Sure, the warmth in the power suits would keep them comfortable, but warming up against this kind of cold was going to tax their energy resources.

Ace considered that maybe he should have eaten another ration cube when he had a chance.

* * *

><p>The day wore on and the hours slipped by. What had it been? Twelve? Fourteen? More now? Tyro could have checked if he wanted to but he only knew that would make it feel longer, make him calculate in his head the percent chance of finding Champ and Ace still alive. There was nothing that information would bring him aside from anxiety and restlessness; when it was useful, that was when he would look again.<p>

The weather too had let up enough to be boring, flakes of snow floating downwards as opposed to their previous horizontal trajectory, and enough to show that the sun was growing low on the horizon. And so it remained, boring, and yet tense. An exercise in active waiting.

Mostly at this point Tyro was hungry. It had after all been that ten, twelve, or whatever hours since the hurried breakfast he had scarfed down this morning. Mind now on the subject of food he looked around in hopes that perhaps someone seemed to be thinking the same thing. The faces around him showed nothing but discipline.

Tyro realized he was at a loss. Normally he just scrounged up his own food, but he wasn't sure what they had here, or where, or what the rules for consuming it were. If Gavyn were here he would have just bothered him, but he couldn't imagine telling the others he was hungry. To make it worse, he was the one more or less in charge here. In this case he wasn't sure what that meant, other than that begging for food was probably not an ideal leadership tactic.

Perhaps it meant he was the one who was supposed to call mealtime then? Perhaps stuff only happened when he said it was supposed to or...something? Though that would be exceptionally presumptuous. Deciding he was unable to make a good decision on this he decided to not decide.

Another hour passed. Feeling hungry turned into feeling sick. He shifted his position uncomfortably in his chair. It didn't help. He tried again to no avail. Unable to take it anymore he decided he needed to say something. He debated how to start the conversation, trying multiple lines in his head before finally deciding on a desperate and thinly veiled, "Is anybody else hungry?"

"Starving," came the almost immediate reply for Tar.

"Yeah, It's been thirteen hours, I could use something," agreed Sparks.

"Well, we have rationed for it," conceded Stitch. "Mostly it will be important that we are ready as soon as we need to be. Seems like it's time to grab a bite then."

"So what have we got?"

"Dry rats," announced Splinter, fishing a pack of something from the supply cabinet.

"Wait what?" Tyro asked quickly, trying to not be revolted as he strained around in his seat to get a look at what horrible thing Splinter might be holding. It couldn't be rats, as in the nasty creatures, that didn't make sense, but then again, who was he to say?

"Dry Rations," Corrected Stitch.

To Tyro's, perhaps he could call it relief, Splinter instead started passing out what looked to be dull, colorless, and way too small cubes.

"Cheers to the Republic," Tracks sighed, popping his in his mouth whole. The others had similarly dutiful if not resigned looks as they chewed, nibbled, and otherwise found whatever method of savoring the sad meal, or simply getting it over with.

Tyro stared at the pathetic cube. The thing was probably engineered to be ridiculously healthy. Even Jedi had their rations, but this seemed to be the extreme version of that. It was only his hunger that made him question it no further as the took a bite, wondering how this small a thing could possibly be enough to tide him over.

It took all his years of Jedi training to not spit the thing out. "Oi! That's revolting!"

He heard a snicker behind him as Tar struggled to contain his laughter.

"They're engineered to contain the exact nutrients the body needs to survive," Stitch explained calmly.

"Yeah, I get that," Tyro sighed. "It's just...unfortunate." The comment was met with another dark laugh from Tar.

"Commander's got a point though," Tracks grumbled. "But you won't be finding anything else out here, so eat up."

Tyro decided Tracks had the right idea about this whole thing and shoved the rest of it in his mouth, chewing quickly and promptly washing it down with a swig of water.

"All the more reason to find them soon so we can all get back and have a proper meal," added Tracks.

Tyro nodded in agreement.

The meal had made him consider their other basic needs too however. If they didn't find Ace and Champ soon they were going to start needing some sleep. "So, about resting, do we take shifts?"

"Thought you were never going to ask!" Roller called out from the front.

"Yes," agreed Stitch. "Shifts is correct. Feeling tired, Commander?"

Tyro quickly considered his answer. Yes, after how little sleep he had had last night, how early he had woken up, and how the day had been going, he was tired. but he was also supposed to be the one in charge here. He couldn't fall asleep like some youngling in the back of a speeder. What if something came up? What if something happened that only he could respond to, or worse, that he didn't sense or do something about in time because he was asleep?

"Uh no," he lied. "I'm good." Well it wasn't entirely a lie. He could hold out, and he had pulled plenty of all-nighters before. Besides, it wasn't even close to that point yet. "Roller sounds like he needs a break though."

"I should probably take one now too," Stitch added.

"And if you're staying awake then," Tracks added to Tyro, "I'll let you watch the navscreen while I get some shuteye. You seem to have figured it out." Tracks seemed like the kind of person who took what he could get when he could get it.

"So I guess you three are first shift then?" asked Tyro.

"I'll pilot for now then," volunteered Sparks.

There was a moment of shuffling about as everyone found their new positions. Tar hopped up into the seat next to Tyro while Splinter took a seat next to Sparks in the front.

"Sweet dreams," Tar teased.

"Aw shut it," Roller spat back, throwing his helmet at Tar.

* * *

><p>It was never easy to tell what time it was in space, but a spell of drowsiness told Gavyn that it was getting pretty late. The meeting with the Jedi Council dragged on. It was a massive strategy meeting, going over the victories and losses across the galaxy in the past month. About how to consolidate and redistribute resources where they were most advantageous. There were arguments after argument over which systems to pull troops from. They were not easy choices to make, and the time spent deliberating was justified. As tedious as the politics of it were, Gavyn was glad that he had an opportunity to chime in when he could. As an infantry general, he was one of the few who saw firsthand the plights of civilians and troops alike. He had never been a bright strategist, but he knew reality. That counted for something among the councilors.<p>

Gavyn wandered to the hangar. The crowds repairing the ship on the way seemed to have thinned out a bit. The major work shift must have been over. He caught the attention of the pilots that flew him up, Banks. "Any chance we can make it back down tonight?" Gavyn asked.

"Afraid not, sir." He replied. "Camp is in the dark for another eight hours. It would be too dangerous to fly down in the weather like that until it is optimal."

Gavyn nodded, mouth twisted in disappointment. "Thanks, Banks. Don't forget to get some shuteye." The jedi told him.

"You too, sir." The clone noted. After hardly sleeping the night before, the wear was starting to show on Gavyn's face.

Gavyn made his way through the boarded-up hallways until he found his quarters. He took the opportunity to find and set out a fresh set of robes for the morning before collapsing into his bed. The familiarity of it only made it lonelier. Gavyn could smell Ace on the sheets, and when he closed his eyes, could imagine him standing by the washbasin, about to crawl in next to him.

Without warning, Gavyn cried. He had managed to keep himself together during the day, but with nobody watching and nobody to impress, he couldn't stop himself. This comfortable bed, and this safe ship were his prison while Ace was lost and Tyro was putting his life on the line trying to find him. Every fiber of him told Gavyn that it was wrong, and he should be on the ground and helping that very moment, but his duty was here. Nothing he could do about it.

Memories drifted through his head like ghosts, haunting the night. Although his body was physically and emotionally exhausted, no sleep came to him that night. His thoughts were with Ace and Tyro, far away, lost in an endless torrent of snow.


	7. Repairs

**Repairs**

With the night came wind and ice. "Just when you think it can't get any colder," mumbled Sparks from the front of the craft as increasingly large chunks of ice pelted the windshield. "It's nearly negative a hundred Celsius out there!"

"Seriously?" Tyro asked, pulling himself forward to see the temperature reading.

"Seriously," Sparks confirmed, sounding just as amazed. "This can't be good for the ship. She's held up impressively so far but I don't think she can take much more."

"No she can't," Splinter agreed darkly.

Right on cue there was a loud _ca-chunk!_ followed by a clatter of metal as the ship rocked roughly to the side. Within an instant at least six lights began to flash red.

"What was that?" Splinter asked slowly, forcing calmness.

"Damn jinxed it is what it was!" Tar spat loudly in a sort of terrified anger. Tyro stared down at the man's hands, clenched tightly to the seat.

"Tar, it was bound to happen at this rate," explained Sparks in a calm tone that might have almost been mistaken for optimism.

"Confirmation bias," Splinter added nonchalantly.

"Curse, you mean!" Tar countered. "And what do those flashing red lights mean huh? What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm looking for a place to land now." No sooner had Sparks spoken then an alarm started to sound.

"What did you do to my ship?" A voice yelled from the back. Well, Roller was awake now.

"The question should be what I plan to do with it, and the answer is land somewhere moderately sheltered and repair it," Sparks spoke evenly, fiddling with the controls.

"Looks like there's a peak up ahead that's perpendicular to the current velocity of the wind, want me to set coordinates?" Tyro asked, staring at the navsreen.

"Good idea Commander," Sparks agreed, sounding a bit something on the outside of ship started to rattle.

"Is it supposed to make that noise?" Tracks asked gruffly.

"No..." grumbled Roller. "Here, let me pilot."

"It's too unstable to switch over now," responded Sparks in an analytical calm, watching the screen and windshield. "Just let me take this. You can have it back after I make the repairs, but for now let concentrate on landing this thing, okay?"

Roller looked a little offended of Sparks' offhand use of the word "thing" but otherwise shut his mouth and sat back.

Tyro sat back as well as the ship started to shake. The engines and stabilizers were working overtime to compensate for the damage. It was unnerving, but it was just the sound of the ship doing its job. They should have plenty of time to land still. A harsh whispering joined in with the other noises, Tar was uttering what seemed to be some kind of prayer in Mandalorian.

"Tar, it's fine," Tyro tried to calm him, though Tar took no notice. Once again, Tyro was reminded didn't have Gavyn's presence.

Tar barely contained a yelp as the ship shook violently, pushing them all forward as it came with a loud thud.

"That's it, we're landed," said Sparks, hopping up from the cockpit. He gave Tar, now curled up in a ball, a mocking pat on the shoulder as he passed. "I'm going to go out and see what's going on. I can't tell you how long it will take without seeing what needs repairing, but it shouldn't be too bad," he announced, putting on his helmet and grabbing a box of tools. "Roller, stay on your comm, I might need you to test functions from inside while I work."

"Roger that."

"Hang on Sparks, I'm coming too," Tyro called after his friend, finding his coat and snow gear.

Sparks turned to him as though he might reply, but Stitch spoke up first. "Commander, the temperature is dangerously low out there, I'm not sure your equipment can hold up to it. Sparks is designated to manage this kind of situation."

"I can manage this on my own Commander, you don't have to worry about it," Sparks shrugged in agreement.

Tyro stopped himself from immediately answering to consider their words. Was the risk worth it? "We're here to find Ace and Champ right? For all we know they're out in this weather too. The longer we spend fixing the ship, the longer they're stranded. I can at least half our time out there if I help Sparks. Repairs were my thing before I ended up here," Tyro countered.

"Furthermore this ship is our only hope of getting back, it needs all the attention and respect we can give it. And in this weather we'll need to make sure none of the systems are compromised and fix them quickly if they are. This is not a cold weather vehicle, any exposed parts are in danger of failing and we risk losing electricity and heat, endangering anyone inside anyway."

Tyro looked around at the others but he was met with no opposition. "I'll come in and warm up if it gets too cold," he promised, pulling on his the rest of his snow clothes.

Walking out into the cold air felt like getting slapped, even through the layers and layers of thick snow clothing he was wearing. Tyro gasped only to realize how much breathing hurt out here as well.

"You okay, Commander?" Sparks called back to him. Thankfully the peak they had landed behind provided good shelter from the wind and ice being blown about and Tyro could hear him despite the storm.

"Yeah, but you weren't kidding mate, this is cold."

"I never kid, Commander," Sparks teased lightly as he made his way around the ship. "Let's just get this over with quickly."

Tyro followed as quickly as he could behind Sparks, hugging himself against the cold, boots squeaking loudly in the snow. "See anything?"

"No, not yet."

"I'll check on the other side, make this go faster," Tyro called back.

"Sounds good, Sir." Sparks' reply was followed by the scraping of ice. It was absolutely caked onto the ship.

Noting the technique Tyro began to scrape away at the ice as well. "You know, you probably don't have to call me 'Sir' and 'Commander' and stuff when it's just the two of us," Tyro mentioned, glancing over at Sparks.

Sparks shrugged. "Well, Sir, you are leading this mission. It is your rank. Why should that make you uncomfortable, Commander? It's an honor and a privilege not many get, Commander. Besides, the more I use it, the more you get used to it, and the less you ask me to stop, Commander." Tyro could hear the smile in Sparks' voice. "Really though, what's wrong with being okay with what you are Commander?"

Tyro looked back to the ice he was scraping at, thinking. The statement made sense, and it was somehow made even more deep by the fact it came from a...clone. Clones had no choice in what they were or could be, yet accepted it anyway. He disliked even thinking the word, but now that he thought about it, the others didn't seem to mind so much.

Sparks regarded Tyro before continuing. "If you make it your own, people can't use it against you, you gain its strength"

Tyro thought about that. Worded differently it was a sentiment he often held. What he knew, he knew he knew. And part of that was knowing that if you respect yourself, people would be more likely to respect you. It was the reason why he decided he could dye his hair green and do whatever with it he pleased. It was also the reason why he could stick to his convictions. It was why he had been able to turn in his former master. He could apply it to being a Jedi-he could should it to this as well. "Thanks Sparks."

"Any time, Commander," Sparks replied, tone radiating with positivity. It was enough to almost make Tyro forget the cold.

Smiling, Tyro looked back to the ship. "Oi! Found it! Check it out, this panel's been dislodged. Look at all the crap in here."

"Good find, Sir," Sparks yelled from the other end, hopping down from where he had climbed up onto the ship. Tyro turned back to his work as he heard Sparks' boots squeak through the snow. Then suddenly there was an ear-piercing squeal, followed by a loud crack.

Danger. Tyro looked up quickly, heart racing. Sparks had stopped walking, looking around quickly. And then, just like that, he was gone in a thunderous crash and loud roaring of snow.

Tyro quickly jumped back, saved only by his reflexes and the force as the ground opened up where he had just been standing. Scrambling to gain his footing he spun around.

"Sparks!" Tyro's scream echoed off the mountain but he was met with no other reply. All that was left was an empty dark chasm and a mist of snow thrown into the air.

* * *

><p>As the sky grew darker and darker, Ace moved quickly to try and scavenge as much shelter as he could. Without tools, he could only tear apart the pieces of the speeder that were not bolted down - which didn't leave a lot. Ace ripped apart the seats, piling the cushions in the dryest corner, next to Champ. Everything that could be burned, Ace gathered together. This was do or die now. They weren't going to survive another day out here, without the sanctuary of the enclosed speeder. Nothing else mattered aside from staying alive as long as possible, and making themselves as visible as possible.<p>

The snowfall, at least, had slowed down, which meant that the speeder didn't quite fill up with heaps of snow as fast as it might have. Regardless, night had fallen by the time Ace managed to shovel the majority of the snow out of the speeder with a twisted scrap of sheet metal. It cleared enough space for him to start a small fire with the seat cushions. The plastic and foam filled the air with thick black smok that crept up through the hole in the roof. At least it would keep more snow from blowing in, even if Ace couldn't feel any difference in the temperature.

An alert in Ace's hud went off. He tried for a moment to get on edge, but his body was too exhausted. Fortunately, he realized the alert was for Champ coming to. Ace leaned over his comrade excitedly.

"Champ! Hey." He patted his comrade's shoulder. There was nothing but a groan in response. He was slipping in and out.

"Take it easy, buddy. Sleep it off." Ace tried to encourage. He wasn't exactly feeling one-hundred-percent either. His whole body ached. He was starving, but already feeling chilled, so he didn't dare remove his helmet again for food. Hypothermia was a far more imminent threat than hunger. Ace was thankful for his HUD, because his vision kept blurring in and and out from exhaustion.

Sliding to the ground next to the fire, Ace's limbs felt heavy. "Just sleep it off." He repeated, knowing full well that he shouldn't fall asleep. He may not ever wake up again.


	8. Lost

**Lost**

The cold bit cruelly at the back of Tyro's throat as he tried to catch his breath. The snow hadn't settled yet but he had run the whole thing through his mind at least twenty times now already. The weight of the ship must have strained the ice, loosening the thick layer of snow that covered a chasm that had been there all along.

But why hadn't he been able to see that on any of the ships instruments? Why hadn't he sensed it through the force? Why hadn't he guessed what was happening in time to do something? Why hadn't he acted sooner, told Sparks to run, or grabbed him with the force? He wasn't used to doing that sort of thing, his mind countered, but he should be.

Shaking, whether it was from the shock or cold, Tyro cautiously pulled himself to the edge of the deep yawning crevasse that now split the snow. He could only see a few meters down, where the lights from the ship still reflected off the nighttime snow above, and then it was absolute darkness. Shakily he knelled in the snow.

He hadn't felt Sparks pass into the force. Perhaps he couldn't tell that sort of thing? He had felt it when Big Ten had had lost his life on Loronar, but he himself had been so close to death at that moment and perhaps that had something to do with it.

Taking a few more sharp breaths, Tyro closed his eyes to reach out into the living force, grasping in a frenzy for any sign of Sparks, but he could find nothing but bitter, stinging cold. The event continued to play through his mind, again and again, seeming less real each time until at last he was shivering so violently he gave up all hope of ever focusing.

Dazedly he looked around. It had all happened so fast. Maybe Sparks could still be okay. "Sparks!" He yelled again. "Sparks!"

There was no reply. He would have to go after him, Tyro realized, looking from the plain of snow to the mountain, then back down to the ship.

The ship. The crevasse. Tyro followed the large crack. It split the ground in a dramatic jagged line that cracked directly under the middle of the ship, leaving the front and back on either side. If anyone were to try and exit it-which they were sure to after the noise and shaking, they would be in danger. If the ground split any further, everyone could be lost. He had to move the ship. He had to tell them.

Remembering he had a comm Tyro inched back from the edge of the chasm and fumbled in his pack with a heavily gloved hand. As much as it hurt to accept, he had an entire crew to worry about, Sparks would have to wait.

"This is Commander Reval," he started, trying to figure out what to say next. "There's been...an incident. I need you all to stay on the ship right now and try to move as little as possible. I'm going to try to move it using the force. I'll explain later, not sure how much time we have."

Tyro shoved the comm into his pack again, vaguely noting the voice that crackled in agreement from the unit.

He reached through the force first, into the ground, into the snow, trying to see where the crevasse ran. There would be no point in moving the ship if he only put it in more danger. The effort was about as focused as his earlier attempt at meditation, but good enough, he could safely move the ship back a ways to the northwest.

That settled, Tyro rolled his attention into the force, pulling it into him, reaching out with it, an extension of himself as he grabbed the ship with giant hands, gently picking it up as steadily as he could manage and setting it down safely many meters to the side. Free from the pressure of the ship the ground gave another loud squeal of ice as the crack expanded further with another woosh of powdered snow.

Realizing he had been staring blankly, Tyro reached out his comlink again. "You guys are in the clear."

"Roger that Commander," came Roller's voice. "Sir, Sergeant Major Stitch wants a report on Sparks' condition."

Tyro looked back to the chasm beside him. "I'm coming on board to update you on the situation."

Grimly Tyro turned away, doing his best to gather the force within him to stop his shivering. He wished now more than ever he knew whatever skill Gavyn had been trying to teach to stave off the cold him yesterday, but for now he drew on his own energy in the force to warm his body up, even though it would cost him later. He couldn't risk Stitch keeping him on the ship if he was going to go after Sparks.

"You're a kriffing Jedi don't tell me you couldn't do anything!" Tar bellowed.

"I..." Tyro realized he didn't know what to say to that. He didn't like confrontation, he didn't like being on trial. He wanted to run, to get away from the five sets of eyes that were fiercely staring into him.

The thought crossed his mind that as Commander, didn't owe anyone an explanation but he wanted to give one. However, as his thoughts drifted back to Sparks he realized that this would be an emotional argument, one neither of them had time for. As much as he wanted to shy away from the pressure, he was going to have to be a leader, be authoritative if he wanted a shot at finding Sparks. "I will explain again later, however at the present my interest is in finding Sparks."

Tyro took a deep breath, calming himself, thinking of what Sparks had been telling him. If there ever was a time to accept his role as a Commander it was now, he owed that much to Sparks. He could do this, no matter how self-conscious he was going to be about it.

"We have three concerns at the moment," Tyro began, thinking out loud. Maybe if he just treated this like giving a report in class it would be better. "The first is our mission. We have a lot of ground to cover in our primary search radius for Ace and Champ. In order to that, the ship requires repair. Sparks and I located the damage and it still needs to be addressed immediately. Which brings us to the third point, rescuing Sparks."

Part of Tyro's mind wanted to stop and be baffled that he had just said what he had, but he knew if he stopped now it would be only more difficult. He took half a moment to look around at everyone. Stitch, Splinter, and Roller stared at him dutifully, but Tracks kept his gaze low while Tar looked away obstinately.

Now came the hard part. Tyro recognized that Sparks was his friend. His best friend here. That was an attachment. Attachment was forbidden. As a Jedi, and as a Commander, he had a duty to his mission first and foremost. Tyro did not believe in bending the rules. They were there for a reason. That said, there might still be a way to work within them.

"Our duty is to Ace and Champ. Since we cannot confirm Sparks' condition or whereabouts, we cannot spend an unwarranted amount of time searching for him," Tyro reiterated grimly. Stitch had tried to contact Sparks once Tyro had informed the crew, however he had had about as much luck as Tyro. It was likely the man's equipment was damaged in the fall.

Most of the crew looked away darkly at that, however nobody argued. "That said I do not believe in leaving Sparks behind unnecessarily. With that in mind I request that ship repairs be delegated to anybody capable of the task while I search the crevasse for the duration of time it takes to make said repairs. In the event the ship is repaired before Sparks is located, I will need to discontinue my search efforts and we will call in another team. They will have the advantage of knowing his exact geographic location while we continue to search for Ace and Champ. Are there any objections?"

Tyro looked around, hoping nobody would say anything against the plan. He couldn't think of any other way to deal with the situation. His stomach knotted as Stitch spoke up. "Commander, I have to express my concern about the safety of you searching on your own, as well as the potential duration of your exposure to the cold."

"With the force I am the most qualified," though as Tyro said it he knew he could not take any risks. To unnecessarily endanger himself, or worse, put himself in the same situation as Sparks, would decrease the chances of anybody getting out alive. "We've got some rope right? And I can maintain radio contact, preferably with you Stitch. I'll let you make the call about when I have to come back, if that would be better?" Stitch looked grave but nodded his approval nonetheless.

"If there are no other objections, are there any volunteers to make the repairs?"

* * *

><p>"Alright Commander, looks like you've got everything then," Stitch confirmed, as he finished cinching the rope tightly into the harness Tyro was wearing.<p>

Tyro took one last look at Tar and Roller making repairs to the ship and nodded. "Let me know if they have any questions."

"Absolutely Sir. Just make sure you leave your comm on at all times and we'll be good Commander."

"Got it," agreed Tryo. He turned back to the crevasse. The icy chasm ran deep, and dark as it was he could only see down it a few meters with the reflection of the ship lights. Thankfully he had a glow rod, but until he got down there, there was no knowing what it would be like. He took in a breath of the sharp cold air and backed up a few steps, readying himself.

"We can repel you down whenever you're ready, Sir," Splinter said.

"Nah, I got this. Just don't hold on too tight." Tyro inhaled, filling himself with the force, then jumped.

Stitch's alarmed voice was drowned out by the by the rush of wind as Tyro lost himself in the fall, the force swirling reassuringly around him. For a moment he felt like he was home, that there was nothing in the world to worry about. It was just him and the force.

That was a lie though. Painfully Tyro brought his mind back to the present, pulling himself to slow, landing lightly on a shelf of ice. Looking up there was darkness, only the slightest sliver of a glow from the lights of the ship around a hundred meters above him.

"Commander Reval! Come in!" Sitch's voice yelled at him over the comlink.

"I'm fine Stitch, it's fine. I've found some sort of a shelf that runs along the side here, I'm gonna check this first before I go further down."

"Roger that Commander."

Going off of nothing more than a quickly calculated guess where Sparks might have fallen, Tyro set off to his left, marking covered territory as he went. The glow rod only illuminated so much of the black, frozen void around him though, and unable to grasp the living force in any meaningful way he might as well have been going at this blind.

Tyro continued for a while before it became clear, this was not where Sparks was. "Not here," he sighed at his comlink, "I gotta double back." His jaw felt stiff as he spoke the words and he began to shiver violently once more. How long had it been? Five minutes? Five wasted minutes. But, he assured himself, who knew how long the ship took to repair. It was no surprise he hadn't found Sparks yet. He would turn up though, there were only so many places he could be.

Turning right was no better though, and the going was slow. Tyro shuffled along, holding one hand to the cliff side, leaning on it more and more heavily for support as he fought to move past his shivering.

"Guys are still working on the ship, how are you holding up?" Stitch asked. He had asked the same thing not even a minute ago.

Tyro sighed, "Still okay," he replied trying to keep the shiver out of his voice.

Fifteen minutes gone. "I'm going to jump down further, he's got to be further down."

Sure enough there was yet another ledge of ice, and still the crevasse still went deeper into the ground. Tyro considered jumping down further...perhaps Sparks was at the bottom. He would try that next.

Tyro could barely see the light at the top at all now. Could Sparks have even survived a fall like this? Yes, his mind assured him. If he was able to scramble onto the sides and slow himself a bit, or landed in the right places. Some of the armor could stand up to the vacuum of space, surely it could take somewhat of a fall...right?

The good news was he had stopped shivering. His movements were slow though, and his hands, face and feet absolutely burned with the cold. Another ten minutes passed with still no sign of Sparks. Then suddenly he heard something. It sounded far off, echoed, a crunch of ice. "Sparks?" He called, his voice reverberating off the walls, but with it the crunch turned to a rumble, the rumble to a roar. Quickly Tyro looked up just in time to catch the vague outline an avalanche of falling ice.

"Stitc-" he couldn't even finish his warning before the snow and ice slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him. Then he was falling. This wasn't like before, he had no control. His mind sluggishly reminded himself to grab onto the force, but that control felt as stiff as his freezing limbs. Then suddenly he was jerked to an abrupt stop.

"Commander! Commander Reval!" Tyro hung there, swaying slightly by the taut rope, the harness digging into his torso and legs as a powder of snow settled around him. He stared down into the black abyss, trying to catch his breath. "Commander! I need you to respond. Tyro!"

"'m fine Stitch,"

"We're bringing you up, Sir."

"...th' ship repaired?" Tyro asked, noticing how difficult it was becoming to talk in this cold.

"No Sir-"

"Lower me down...need to get to th' bottom." There was a pause and Tyro could hear what sounded like Stitch running the plan by Splinter while turned away from his comlink. "Stitch we had n'agreement."

"And part of that, Sir, was that I could call this off at my discretion."

"Danger's gone. Ya caught me. It just...I'm this far down. Sparks has got to be down there."

There was tired sigh. "Is that an order then Sir?"

Tyro considered for a moment. He had to do the responsible thing here, not the emotional one. "Yes. I'm th' best chance Sparks' got. If we've got a chance of finding him, it's now." Sparks had to be at the bottom. Where else? Just a bit further then he would find him and either get a stretcher down here or just pick him up with the force. Tyro envisioned the scenario as Stitch and Sparks slowly lowered him the rest of the way to the bottom.

Stumbling slightly Tyro found his footing. Well, he couldn't really feel his feet anymore. Or his hands for that matter. In fact it was kind of like he was so cold he was just...warm.

Shuffling through the icy snow and scattered rocks he continued his search. He didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like too long. Perhaps some of this stuff was from the ice that fell earlier? Stiffly he started to dig. He sat down and stared at the rocks and ice in front of him. His fingers wouldn't really move anymore. Perhaps if he took his gloves off he could bend them better or something? Was this pile even where the stuff had fallen? It looked like it had been here for a long time.

"..der. Commander, do you read me?" Tyro shook his head , blinking, as he snapped back to focus.

"Oh, er s'rry, was just...adjusting jacket...gloves...n' stuff. It's actually pre'y warm down here."

"Commander, when did you stop shivering?" Stitch's voice responded uneasily.

Tyro didn't think anything by the question. "While back. Half n' hour ago?"

"Commander, we're bringing you up now."

"No, no I-it's fine." Clearly whatever he had said had been the wrong answer.

"No Commander, it's not. And the ship has been repaired. It's time to go." Tyro stared blankly at the ground, falling slowly into shadow as the halo of his glow rod grew more and more distant.


End file.
